(Computer) router/firewall advice.

[bigegg]

Can anyone recommend a good router/firewall.
By "good" i mean:
Easily configurable.
Fit between a lan and fibre router.
Can limit devices to certain times/websites (eg,living room pc allowed facebook only from 6pm-8pm)
Blacklist/whitelist blocks.
I can do the programming rules, but struggling to find the hardware.
Ideally, id like a dedicated firewall pc/server, but i have limits as to space + im worried it could be physically bypassed.

 

[Dave Sherwood]

Comodo Free firewall is the best I have ever used. It will let you only accept and delivery to sites you want and will block anything you want. But best of all its free.

 

[bigegg]

Comodo Free firewall is the best I have ever used. It will let you only accept and delivery to sites you want and will block anything you want. But best of all its free.

Thanks for that, but I need a hardware solution which blocks certain (teenage (!) ) members of the family (and his friends) from accessing parts of the 'net whilst his mother is out/asleep etc. It must be a hardware option, because software installed on his/his friends computers can be removed.
The router which is installed at the moment is not very configurable - the best I have managed is to divert all traffic thru a PC (a Mac), but I have discovered evidence that someone has bypassed this by changing the default gateway on his PC to the router, rather than the Mac.

Unfortunately, the teenager in question (plus friends!) know almost as much about internet security as I do, so they can find ways to circumvent anything I do.

 

[DanielW]

What service provider are you with?

 

[bigegg]

BT
I've done a bit more reading round, and it would appear that what I need is a dedicated "proxy server" - such as openDNS - but on the LAN side, so that I can customise access for each device. The toerags teenager in question knows how to configure his PC to access other DNS servers, rather than the openDNS one...

Is it possible to buy (for a reasonable price - like sub £150) a router with built in proxy service?

 

[bigegg]

This:
Buffalo Wireless 11ac 1750 Gigabit Dual Band Router with Parental Control

seems capable of doing the job I want.

Any comments/other recommendations?

 

[skotl]

This:
Buffalo Wireless 11ac 1750 Gigabit Dual Band Router with Parental Control

seems capable of doing the job I want.

Any comments/other recommendations?

At first glance, yes that would seem to be suitable (just from reading the specs - I don't have experience of the device).
The trick is to find one with a 10baseT WAN port, not an ADSL port, which this one has.

That does make me wonder about physical security, though. All good while you're in the house but what's to stop junior plugging his own router directly into your fibre box and swapping it back again before you get home?

And does he/she have a mobile phone? Do you know whether they are able to tether their PC to that phone and circumvent your new proxy server?
Technically, what you're proposing will work but it's not going to stop a committed and semi-talented teenager from accessing whatever they want...

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Just let him [them] watch the porn - it'll complete their education. [Reaching for coat with one hand.......]

 

[colnerov]

Hi, baseball bat applied to his computer. Cancel the fibre contract and do your surfing on mobile broadband dongle. That way you won't see him because he'll be round one of his mates houses

Colin

 

[rtbcomp]

If you're with BT all they have to do is disconnect the cable to the router and connect a Wi-Fi adaptor then they can go through any nearby BT Hotspot. Worked for me when visiting an elderly relative, she didn't have a PC so I was able to use next door's Wi-Fi

 

[colnerov]

Hi, to be honest this is not really an IT issue, this is a discipline/trust/respect issue.

Colin

 

[gaz1]

you could use the second modem route

prefer the dlink 615 gamers modem but is really easy to configure and plenty of vids on the net to aid you

 

[bigegg]

Hi, baseball bat applied to his computer. Cancel the fibre contract and do your surfing on mobile broadband dongle. That way you won't see him because he'll be round one of his mates houses

Colin

Not necessarily "him".
There are other considerations which i cant discuss.
Noted the comments re. Bt hotspots.
This is more about the " account holder" being made responsible for how the conne tion is being used.
I need to demonstrate "reasonable effort"

 

[zx9]

Turn off wirless G and N that will stop them watching videos.

I have to say that I do agree with Colin:

Hi, to be honest this is not really an IT issue, this is a discipline/trust/respect issue.

Edit: I did not see your last post.

 

[bump]

Use an old PC with a couple of network cards and put smoothwall on it. There are addons that will enable your needs to be meet.

 

[ukracer]

Not necessarily "him".
There are other considerations which i cant discuss.
Noted the comments re. Bt hotspots.
This is more about the " account holder" being made responsible for how the conne tion is being used.
I need to demonstrate "reasonable effort"

This would depend on what you are trying to stop him/them doing...

 

[gaz1]

probably got a warning for downloading off the net is what im thinking

been there done that

 

[the snooper]

doesn't your router allow url blocking under the security options, if so you can just add words ie porn and anything with that word in the url will be blocked, I also had it set up to disconnect on a night and not re connect until 8am next day to stop kids staying up late on pc

 

[skotl]

doesn't your router allow url blocking under the security options, if so you can just add words ie porn and anything with that word in the url will be blocked, I also had it set up to disconnect on a night and not re connect until 8am next day to stop kids staying up late on pc

https://www.torproject.org/

http://torguard.net/

I think we need to read between the lines of the OP's posts. He needs to have done all that he reasonably can to prevent abuse.
But it's pretty much impossible to stop a relatively tech savvy user from accessing any site he/she wants to, unless you have total control of all of the hardware/software in the building.

 

[the snooper]

https://www.torproject.org/

http://torguard.net/

I think we need to read between the lines of the OP's posts. He needs to have done all that he reasonably can to prevent abuse.
But it's pretty much impossible to stop a relatively tech savvy user from accessing any site he/she wants to, unless you have total control of all of the hardware/software in the building.

those 2 links seem to be about hiding your identity online, not preventing access to various sites or have I missed something